Mary Todd Lincoln
Mary Ann Lincoln was the wife of the sixteenth President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, and was First Lady of the United States from 1861 to 1865. A member of a large, wealthy Kentucky family, Mary was unusually well educated for a woman of her time. Connections Before Lincoln married Abraham Lincoln, she was courted and had a serious relationship with Stephen A. Douglas. A love triangle of sorts ensued for a short time before Lincoln chose Abraham, and the two men remained rivals. Beginning in 1861, Lincoln hired Elizabeth Keckley as her personal dressmaker, and the two women became friends. In 1868, Keckley published a book about her life, focusing heavily on her time at the White House, and providing much insight into the private lives of the Lincolns, even including letters that Mary had written to her. Lincoln was furious, feeling it a betrayal of their friendship. After her husband's assassination in 1865, Lincoln recieved letters of condolence from all over the world, which she greatly appreciated and tried to always respond to in her own handwriting. One of those who wrote to her was Queen Victoria, who had tragically lost her own husband four years earlier. When traveling back to the United States from Liverpool in 1869, Lincoln happened to take the same ship back as Philip Sheridan. Lincoln was a friend of Myra Bradwell. The Grant family may have been close friends of Abraham Lincoln, but they were not as fond of Mary herself. In 1879, Lincoln was living in Pau, France and was in ill health and injured after a fall. Ulysses S. Grant and Julia Grant visited Pau at this time, but did not call on her. Lincoln was a friend of Maria Ruiz de Burton. While traveling on a ship from France to America, Lincoln, already in ill health from a fall down a staircase, which had left her spinal cord injured, nearly fell down another flight of stairs on board the ship. She was saved by French actress Sarah Bernhardt, who exclaimed that Mary might have been killed. "Yes, but it was not God's will," Mary replied. Places Lexington, Kentucky, USA - Born here, 1818. Grew up here, 1818 - 1839. Springfield, Illinois, USA - Lived here, 1839 - 1861. Lived here, 1880 - 1882. Died here, 1882. Washington D.C., USA - Lived here, 1861 - 1865. Chicago, Illinois, USA - Lived here, 1865 - 1875. Baltimore, Maryland, USA - Visited here, 1868. Southampton, Hampshire, England, UK - Visited here, 1868. Bremen, Germany - Visited here, 1868. Frankfurt, Germany - Briefly resided here, 1868 - 1869. Nice, France - Visited here, 1868. Glasgow, Scotland, UK - Visited here, 1869. Edinburgh, Scotland, UK - Visited here, 1869. Melrose, Scotland, UK - Visited here, 1869. Staffa, Scotland, UK - Visited here, 1869. Ayr, Scotland, UK - Visited here, 1869. Oban, Scotland, UK - Visited here, 1869. Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK - Sailed out of this city, 1869. Jacksonville, Florida, USA - Visited here, 1875. Batavia, Illinois, USA - Committed to a mental hospital here, 1875. Le Havre, France - Visited here, 1876 and 1880. Bordeaux, France - Visited here, 1876. Marseille, France - Visited here, 1877. Avignon, France - Visited here, 1877. Naples, Italy - Visited here, 1877. Rome, Italy - Visited here, 1877. Sorrento, Italy - Visited here, 1877. Pau, France - Lived here, 1876 - 1880. Category:People Category:Historical Figures Category:1818 Births Category:1882 Deaths Category:People From the United States Category:Mary